The Difference Between 360 Video And VR

Above: The Oculus Rift. Image Credit: Oculus

We’re still waiting on the big Rift 2.0 update promised back at Oculus Connect in October, but Oculus does have some small tweaks for us in the meantime.

The Oculus November Update for Rift and Gear isn’t exactly headline-grabbing, but there are some nice inclusions. Namely on Rift the company has finally introduced dynamic bundle pricing. That means if you already own one or more of the games on offer in a bundle on the Oculus Store, the pricing will scale so you won’t actually have to pay for them again. This feature will arrive with the Rift 1.20 software update, which is beginning to roll out now.

For Gear VR, you can now view comments and reactions to your livestreams while inside VR, making the streaming process a little more seamless. WebGL2.0 support has also been added to improve WebVR and 3D web performance, while Oculus Rooms is getting the ability to share Facebook photos and bringing Chess into the social hub.

Finally, Login Confirmation is being added across the Oculus platform. This will add an extra step to confirm your identity when you access an Oculus account on a device the company believes may be compromised. You’ll get a code in your email address and notifications to other devices you’ve logged into to make sure it’s all legit.

There’s a good reason for November’s update being so slight: in December Oculus will launch a beta for Rift 2.0, which will include a new UI named Dash which can be summoned in-app and allows you to use standard applications from within VR. Oculus Home, meanwhile, will be redesigned to allow you to customize your space.